1. Technical Field
This invention relates to acoustics, and more particularly, to a system that enhances the perceptual quality of a processed voice.
2. Related Art
Many communication devices acquire, assimilate, and transfer a voice signal. Voice signals pass from one system to another through a communication medium. In some systems, including some systems used in vehicles, the clarity of the voice signal does not only depend on the quality of the communication system and the quality of the communication medium, but also on the amount of noise that accompanies the voice signal. When noise occurs near a source or a receiver, distortion often garbles the voice signal and destroys information. In some instances, noise may completely mask the voice signal so that the information conveyed by the voice signal is completely unrecognizable either by a listener or by a voice recognition system.
Noise, which may be annoying, distracting, or that results in lost information comes from many sources. Noise from a vehicle may be created by the engine, the road, the tires, or by the movement of air. When a vehicle is in motion on a paved road, a significant amount of the noise is produced when the tires strike obstructions or imperfections in the road surface. Transient road noises may be created when the tires strike obstructions such as bumps, cracks, cat eyes, expansion joints, and the like.
Transient road noises share a number of common characteristics which allow them to be identified as such. The most significant attribute of transient road noises is that they typically include a pair of related sounds or sonic events. The two sounds are generated when first the front wheels of the vehicle strike an obstruction followed by the rear wheels striking the same obstruction. The two sounds are separated in time by the length of time necessary for the rear wheels to travel the length of the vehicle's wheelbase given the vehicle's rate of travel. Furthermore, the sounds generated when the front and rear tires strike an object are broadband events having a characteristic spectro-temporal shape. Because most vehicles ride on air filled rubber tires the sounds generated when the tires strike an object have significant low frequency energy. Thus, the spectral shape is characterized by a rapid rise in signal intensity in the lower frequency ranges, a peak intensity, followed by a general tapering off in the higher frequency ranges.
These characteristics may be employed to identify the presence of transient road noises in a voice signal generated by a microphone or other source within a vehicle. Once transient road noises have been identified in a signal, steps may be taken to remove them.